


Dearly Beloved and Departed

by adventuress_writes



Category: Corpse Bride (2005)
Genre: Accidental Marriage, F/F, Fluff, LGBTQ Themes, Same-Sex Marriage, Shotgun Wedding, They love each other so much, They're so cute together, Weddings, ahhh i can't take it anymore, and victoria is lesbian, emily and victoria deserved better, emily gifts victoria her dead cat as a wedding gift, emily is pan, emily teaches victoria how to play piano, just read it, like lets be honest, like who thought it was a good idea for them to not be wives, necrophelia, okay here are my little headcanons, so now they're married, they are so sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-26
Updated: 2018-01-03
Packaged: 2019-01-05 15:45:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 10,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12192861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adventuress_writes/pseuds/adventuress_writes
Summary: In the 2005 movie the Corpse Bride, Victor was torn between two women and two worlds. Okay, well, throw that out the window because this is different. Instead Victoria is the one having qualms about getting married because she's a lesbian and she ends up reciting her vows in the forest and accidentally marrying Emily. Well, the whole thing ends up working out in her favor and the two are happy together. That is until they are told their marriage is null and void.





	1. A Rehearsal Ruined

“With this hand, I will lift your sorrows. Your cup will never empty, for I shall be your wine. With this candle, I will light your way in darkness. With this ring, I ask you to be mine.”

“Good. Now try with the cup, candle, and ring, Victor,” The old pastor commanded from behind the table.

Victor nodded wordlessly in reply, his nerves making his hands shake as he picked up the chalice from the table. He glanced over at Victoria who was staring blankly straight ahead. He shifted his gaze back to the priest and recited the wedding vows again, this time doing the motions.

“With this ring,” Victor looked at Victoria and gently raised her hand to chest height in order to practice putting the ring on her finger. He noticed her hand was cold and limp like she wasn’t willing to put any effort into this wedding practice. Annoyed, yet anxious, Victor continued, sliding the ring onto Victoria’s delicate ring finger, “I ask you to be mine.”

All of the sudden the doorbell rang, the sound reverberated through the large Everglot estate.

“Emile, get the door,” Mr. Everglot ordered the snooty butler.

Victor turned around towards the door along with his and Victoria’s parents, all of them eagerly awaiting their mysterious guest. Victoria on the other had continued to stare ahead, out the grand windows in front of her, yearning for someone to rescue her from this abysmal state she lived in.

A stranger waltzed in the room like he owned the place. He wore a spectacularly tailored suit and he carried himself like an aristocrat. Mr. and Mrs. Everglot shared a confused look trying to figure out who’s side of the family their visitor was from. The man strided to Mr. Everglot and handed him a card.

“Lord Barkis? Emile, get a seat for our visitor,” He instructed the butler.

Emile raced quickly to bring a chair to Lord Barkis and Barkis consequently sat down just as Emile placed the chair under his rear.

“Please continue,” Lord Barkis waved to Victor and the pastor to continue the wedding practice, as if telling them that he wouldn’t be a bother.

“Victoria. Now it is your turn to practice your vows,” the pastor instructed, but Victoria didn’t budge or acknowledge the old man in the slightest.

“Are you deaf, girl?” the pastor asked, perturbed.

“Victoria!” Mrs. Everglot shouted.

Victoria swivelled her head to peer at her mother briefly then back to the pastor. She could feel a cold sweat coming on and she suddenly felt that her corset was squeezing all the air out of her lungs.

She raised her right hand weakly, “With this hand, I will… I will… uh.”

“‘Lift your sorrows!” the pastor corrected.

“Yes, lift your sorrows,” Victoria paused for a moment, unable to move her body. She felt like she was frozen in a block of ice.

She took the chalice from the table in front of her, barely able to raise it, her hands were shaking so badly. “Your cup… will never empty… for I shall…” she trailed off.

“Do you want to get married, girl?” the pastor banged his staff on the ground.

Victoria shut her eyes upon being scolded by the pastor, almost half expecting someone to hit her. She glanced up at the tall old man briefly then turned her attention to Victor whose face was plastered with a look of concern as he awaited her answer. 

“I… uh,” she tried speaking, but her voice betrayed her, as she was close to tears. Or maybe she was about to pass out. She couldn’t tell. She glanced behind her and saw the Van Dorts whispering inconspicuously, Mrs. Van Dort peering over her fan at Victoria.

“Well, Victoria?” Mrs. Everglot prompted with an irritated tone.

Victoria turned her whole body around, her feet pointed in the direction of the exit. She glared at her mother with tears welling up in her eyes as her mother scrutinized her fragile form with a look of displeasure.

“I can’t,” Victoria accidentally let a tear slip from her eye and it slid down her rosy cheek. Mortified, she hurried out of the room as quickly as she could with the constricting clothing she wore. Tears flowed freely as she exited the room into the hall. She rushed to the once grand entrance hall and left through the front door, feeling frightened. Yet even so, she felt an overwhelming sense of freedom as she trudged down the cobblestone streets in the direction of the nearby forest.


	2. I Do

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victoria escapes her wedding rehearsal to walk and think in the nearby woods, when the unexpected happens.

Victoria walked at a slow and steady pace deeper and deeper into the forest. She often went to the forest to think and this time was no different. She had recently come to realize how different she was from everyone else and she frequently tried to think of ways to change herself to conform to the standards her parents had taught her. But the truth was plain and simple: no matter how much she worked to change herself, she couldn’t.

She was an adolescent when she became aware of her affections towards those of the same sex. At one point something within her clicked and soon Victoria grew infatuated with the female figure. The slight curves and softness of women was almost constantly on her mind and she wasn’t too keen on destroying her sapphic mindset. This is why she dreaded going back home to marry a man, Victor, the next day.

And so she continued into the woods, the sun eventually setting, and the moon appearing large and bright in the dark sky. She finally stopped in a grove, content on how far she was from the town she lived in.

“Think, Victoria,” She said to herself as she pulled her dark ash brown hair out of her tight bun and let it flow in messy waves down her back.

She knew she would have to go back home to the parents that hated her and a fiance she didn't even know. She had to find a way for herself to cope through the torture of marrying someone she could never love and the fact that she would always be someone’s property. She hated herself for accepting it, but alas, she had nowhere to run and zero choices.

“I know,” Victoria thought out loud, “I’ll pretend he’s a woman. That would make things easier… right?”

Victoria cleared her throat, stretched her neck, then took a deep breath. She held up her right hand then began speaking, “With this hand, I will lift your sorrows,” She then cupped her right hand pretending she was clutching the chalice, “Your cup will never empty, for I will be your wine.” She knelt down and grabbed a twig off the ground, carrying it like a lit candle, “With this candle, I will light your way in the darkness.” She smiled as she discarded the twig back on the ground and then she pulled a ring from a pocket in her skirt. The ring was a plain silver band that was meant for Victor the next day. “With this ring, I ask you to be mine,” She finished, delicately placing the ring on a branch submerged in the snow that somehow looked like a small hand with long dexterous fingers. She stood back, satisfied by how eloquently she recited her vows.

Suddenly the ground beneath the branch with Victoria’s ring on it began to move and shake. The hand of the branch stretched, then clenched in a fist. Victoria then became aware that it was not a branch, but a skeleton hand. She could see the joints of the fingers move with surprising ease. Then without warning, someone or something seemed to crawl out of the icy earth. It stood up and Victoria immediately recognized it as the corpse of a young woman, but shockingly, this corpse was alive, her honey brown eyes seemingly staring into Victoria’s soul. She wore a lovely lace wedding dress that had been ripped and torn, the once white color of the dress was now a dirty beige shade. The lace veil she wore had an outrageously long train and was in bad condition. Despite the woman’s haggard (and dead) appearance, she smelled of a flowery perfume and she was actually quite beautiful.

“I do,” The woman uttered.

Victoria was torn. Should she run from the seemingly undead woman? Was she dreaming? Could she talk to and reason with the woman? All she could do was stand there in fear, eyes wide open and a hand covering her mouth in surprise; she was as still as a statue. The undead woman cocked her head slightly confused as to why Victoria was looking at her strangely.

“What’s the matter, darling?”

Victoria lowered her hand to her side, trying to power through the fright, “Y-y-you’re. You’re-”

The woman chuckled, “Dead? Yes I know.”

Victoria was more confused than she was before, “I-I don’t understand.”

“What do you mean? We’re married now,” The undead woman flashed the ring to Victoria.

“Oh,” was all Victoria could say.

“And this is where the officiate would say, ‘You may kiss the bride,’” The woman walked towards Victoria and closed the gap between their lips. Then Victoria blacked-out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh man, I'm kinda obsessed with this ship. Get ready for more chapters!


	3. Corpse Bride

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victoria wakes up, dazed and confused in the land of the dead. She finds herself married to beautiful corpse and is pretty okay with it.

Victoria opened her eyes groggily, finding herself in a wingback chair in the corner of a pub. Then she realized she was being crowded around - by dead people. She opened her eyes wide, disoriented and scared. The faces in front of her were just skulls, some of them had flesh still, but it was rotting off their faces. Then she saw the woman from earlier come over to her and she somehow felt relieved. The woman knelt down in front of her chair and laid a hand on Victoria’s thigh.

“How are you feeling, darling?” The woman said.

“Huh? Oh, I have a bit of a headache, but I’ll live,” she responded.

Someone laughed hard at what Victoria had said, “Ha! Live! You’re in the underworld sweetheart!”

The woman scoffed at the skeleton man, “Bonejangles! Don’t be rude! She’s scared and confused.”

“Someone’s protective of their new honey-bun,” Bonejangles joked.

“Hold on. What is this? Who are you? Where am I?” Victoria questioned, becoming increasingly aware that she wasn’t dreaming.

“Well, darling, we’ve just been married. I must say, you recited your vows perfectly! Oh and yes, I... well, I regret to inform you that we are in a - hmm how should I say this - well I suppose you could say Purgatory,” the woman responded.

“Married? Purgatory? Have I died?” Victoria asked, frenzied by the new information she had received.

“No, you’re alive. Oh yes, and I am-”

“She is our lovely corpse bride! Let me tell you a story, sweetheart,” Bonejangles broke out into a little dance and the band behind him started playing their instruments so he could dance to music, his bones jangling together as he danced all the way onto the stage. Then he began singing in beat with the skeleton jazz band. His enthralling song detailed the life and subsequent death of the corpse bride Victoria was now married to. It was something of a sob story and Victoria found herself wiping tears away due to the unfortunate end that her wife had met. She didn’t know anything else about the woman or if they would even be compatible, but she knew she wanted to give this woman the happiness she deserved.

When Bonejangles’ song ended, the corpse bride turned to Victoria and noticed she was crying, “Oh darling, none of that! It’s our wedding night!” The woman gave Victoria a big hug which she was grateful for.

“We may be married, but I don’t even know your name,” Victoria expressed between sobs.

The woman smiled marvelously, yet sympathetic to Victoria’s emotional breakdown, “It’s Emily. I know this isn’t what you were expecting when you envisioned your wedding night as a little girl, but I hope we can make this work.”

“Emily, I know very little about who you are, but I already know, you’re the kindest person with the most gentle heart that I’ve ever known.”

“Oh, I can’t be. I’m sure there are wonderful people in the world of the living!”

“Not that I’ve met. My parents were trying to marry me off to a man I know nothing about and I’ve never met anyone like me who wanted to marry someone of the same sex. No, I couldn’t have wished for a better wedding night,” Victoria wiped away her tears and smiled. She cupped her hand over Emily’s cheek and kissed her wife’s soft, pink lips.

“Oh, darling! I- oh… I just realized I don’t know your name either.”

“Victoria Everglot,” she replied.

Emily grinned, “Victoria, how exquisite! A lovely name for a lovely woman,” she gazed lovingly at Victoria, then remembered what she was going to say before, “Oh right, there’s some where I want to take you.”

Victoria nodded her head in allowance. Emily offered an outstretched hand with a sustained grin, unable to stop smiling. Victoria graciously accepted Emily’s fleshy hand and got up out of the seat and followed her wife to their special destination.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy, oh boy, this ship will be the death of me... oh also, I'm not quite sure if I should include smut, so please let me know if you do!


	4. Wedding Gifts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emily gifts Victoria a wedding present, then they go to Emily's flat.

“Isn’t it marvelous? It’s absolutely breathtaking - oh, well if I had breath,” Emily gently let go of Victoria’s hand and twirled around in circles, dancing on the balcony they stood on. She moved with such grace despite being utterly dead. Her veil and the train of her dress danced with her, following her every move.

Victoria giggled, “Yes, the view is breath-taking, or at least the one I’m looking at.”

“Oh you!” Emily said with a tilt of her head and she almost looked like she was blushing. She finally sat down on a wooden bench shaped like a coffin and patted the seat next to her with her skeleton hand, a loving smile painted on her gorgeous face. Victoria sat down next to her, accordingly. Emily pulled out a small gift wrapped box from under the bench like it was waiting there for them, “I have a gift for you, oh well, a wedding gift.”

“Oh you didn’t have to,” Victoria commented as she began neatly unwrapping the gift, revealing a box with a lid on top. She glanced at Emily.

“Open it!” Emily insisted.

Victoria raised the lid and carefully set it aside. She peered into the box and found a jumble of bones. Confused, she plucked one from the bottom of the box and examined it, discovering it was a rib bone. Then, out of the blue, the box seemingly threw itself out of her hands and to the stone ground, the bones scattering haphazardly on the floor. Before Victoria could say anything, the bones started clattering, then coming together, forming a the skeletal shape of a cat. She noticed a plum colored collar that she somehow recognized lying on the ground. Picking it up, she read the tag.

“Lilith?” She read, then something clicked, “Oh my cat, Lilith! My goodness!” the skeletal cat jumped into her lap and rested its head on her thigh, then she turned to Emily“It’s been many years since she died. Oh how I missed her!”

Emily bit her lip then giggled, “Ooh, I knew you would like it!”

“Like it? I love it! Oh Emily!” Victoria embraced her wife tightly and she felt Emily’s arms wrap around her waist. She couldn’t believe how good she felt. It was like a warm fuzzy in her chest and butterflies in her stomach; she knew what this meant and she was glad, for she truly enjoyed being with Emily.

“Shall we head back to my flat, darling?” Emily asked as they ceased to embrace.

“There are flats here?”

“Well, where else would we all live, silly?”

“Oh, I suppose, you do have a point there,” Victoria agreed.

“Well anyway it’s not far. Just down the road,” Emily stood up from the bench, her hand intertwined with Victoria’s. Victoria followed suit then they continued to the street, their cat Lilith trailing close behind.

~

The newlyweds strolled down the winding streets of the underworld past curiosities that had Victoria entranced. Various shops littered the streets such as a “second hand” shop where the front displays were barrels of dismembered arms and hands and even a maggot removal clinic with a painting of a skeletal doctor on the front window. Though there were many shops one could not find in the land of the living, there were still clothing shops, bakeries, and cafes. Victoria was glad for the bit of normalcy if she was to live in the unfamiliar land she walked in. Occasionally as the walked, Emily would sneak peeks of Victoria’s charming face to see a naively alluring look of wonder as Victoria surveyed the area surrounding them.

“We’re here!” Emily sang as they arrived at the building her flat was located in.

They climbed a few steps to the front door which Emily swung open. Victoria followed Emily up a flight of stairs then down a short corridor to a blue-grey door. Emily turned the brass door knob then opened the door, presenting her front room to Victoria. Decorations scattered the furniture and walls, with various different styles of painting, knick-knacks, and flowers everywhere. The interior design seemed to be that of a tea room, complete with ornate couches, chairs, and a coffee table. Bookshelves lined the walls, displaying Emily’s collection of tomes. To the far end of the room, a wall separated the front room from the kitchen and a small, round dining table for two filled the area transitioning the two rooms. To the left, there were two white matching doors on the wall that presumably led to bedrooms or a bedroom and study.

Victoria entered the room past Emily who was holding the door open. She smiled as she observed Emily’s front room.

“So what do you like to do for fun, Victoria?” Emily inquired, closing the door and sitting door on one of her couches.

“Fun? My mother always told me it was improper for a lady to have fun. I enjoy walking, sewing, and reading though. Oh, and I’ve always wanted to learn to play the piano, but mother said that was improper too,” Victoria answered dejectedly as she sat down on the couch opposite the one Emily sat at.

“Well, mother sounds like fun,” Emily quipped with a smirk.

Victoria chuckled, “Right? You’re lucky you’ll never have to meet her.”

“Oh she’s alive?” Emily asked, to which Victoria responded with a nod, “Hmm, well, in that case, I could teach you to play piano!”

“Oh, you would do that?”

“Of course, darling! We’re married! When I was still alive, my mother and father had me take piano lessons from a tutor nearly everyday. There were some weeks when my fingers would get sore and it would hurt to play, but I’m glad I did it! Now I can teach my lovely wife everything I know about reading music and playing piano!”

“Oh, Emily, I’d love that more than anything!”

“Then come to my study! My piano is in there,” Emily stood from her couch then motioned Victoria to follow her as she headed for one of the doors on the west wall.

Inside Emily’s study an elegant wooden console piano stood proudly at an angle to the far wall adjacent a grand window that afforded a stunning view of the lively city of the dead. A wooden desk that matched the piano stood on the opposite wall with a typewriter on it and pages littering the surface. The rest of the room was filled with random pieces of furniture and decorated with knick-knacks that followed a specific color palette of blues, whites, and greys with a splash of pink here and there. So far, Victoria noted, Emily’s living space reflected who Emily was as an individual and it seemed very personal to her.

“Do you write?” Victoria asked as Emily made a beeline for her piano.

“Hmm? Oh, just in my free time, of which I have endless amounts. I’m working on satirical play right now.”

“My goodness, you’re so well rounded. I wish I possessed half the skill you had.”

“Oh, well, maybe you will! You’ll have so much free time on your hands now! And no one to tell you what to do!”

Victoria thought for a moment, understanding how much freedom she truly had. Now that her parents weren’t around to tell her what to do, she could learn anything she wanted, love who she wanted, and be who she wanted. 

“Darling, sit with me and I’ll give you a lesson,” Emily sat at the piano, poised to play.

Victoria smiled and sat down next to her wife.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well, friends... i'm gonna do it.. there's gonna be smut in the next chapter lol


	5. What Happens in the Bedroom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Victoria and Emily's wedding night so what do they do? Why yes, of course! They fuck. You're welcome.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woooooo smutty chapter. fasten your seatbelt kiddos, this is will be a wild ride.

“That was great, darling. You’ll get the hang of this in no time!” Emily praised Victoria upon finishing a quick piano exercise and thereby finishing her lesson.

“I’m just glad I have such a wonderful teacher,” Victoria commented, blushing from the compliment Emily had paid her.

Emily smiled, enthralled by Victoria’s beauty and delightful personality, but then something came to mind, a burning question she just had to ask her newly beloved wife, “Darling, I must ask you something.”

“Yes, anything.”

“We are married of course and you must know what married people do on their wedding nights.”

“What do you mean?” Victoria asked for clarification, confused by what Emily meant.

“Oh, you know bedroom things…”

“Oh. I’m afraid I don’t know much about that.”

“That’s okay darling, I just wanted to know how you felt about it. Do you want to try it? If you don’t want to that’s fine, I don’t want to pressure you to do something you don’t want to.”

“No, it’s okay, I’ll try whatever you want me to. I’ve lived an utterly boring life so far. This is the most excitement I’ve ever had and I want so badly to try new things!”

“Really? Well, why didn’t you say so!” Emily stood up with a devilish smirk.

With a flourish, Emily gently held the sides of Victoria’s arms and straddled Victoria’s thighs. She leaned in, kissing Victoria fully on her soft, warm lips. Surprised, Victoria sat wide eyed for a moment before indulging herself and kissing Emily back. The whole experience was incredibly new for Victoria; she had never locked lips like this with anyone ever and she certainly had never had sex before. She felt a rush of adrenaline as Emily deepened the kiss and moved her hands up Victoria’s arms sensually to clasp the sides of her face. Victoria found herself wrapping her arms around Emily’s waist, made tiny by her corset.

“Mmm, shall we take this into the bedroom?” Emily inquired with a look of desire.

All Victoria could do was nod her head in affirmation, like a little lost puppy who had just found its master. Butterflies swarmed her stomach and she felt light-headed with passion. Emily hopped to her feet and offered her flesh-covered hand to Victoria who put her hand in Emily’s all too willingly. Emily led Victoria out of the study and to the next room where her bedroom was. An excitement within Emily spurred by her sexual attraction to Victoria gave her a phantom adrenaline high, as the blood in her veins had run cold few years prior. If she were alive, she would’ve been blushing insanely, high on adrenaline, and unbelievably wet.

Inside Emily’s bedroom was the centerpiece of the room: the comfortable queen size bed with a dark wooden frame and cream colored sheets, complete with matching wooden nightstands on either side. A matching settee was angled towards the middle of the room on the left side of the bed. A gorgeous flower arrangement stood on a pedestal behind the settee. Four elegant paintings adorned the wall, symmetrically placed above the bed. An armoire stood against the wall opposite the bed, opened with a white corset draped over the door.

Emily directed Victoria around the bed in front of her, Victoria subsequently sitting on the bed. Emily delicately unbuttoned every single button that adorned Victoria’s blouse then gently pulled it off her.

She kissed Victoria softly on the cheek and whispered in her ear, “You’re gonna have to turn around darling.”

Victoria silently obeyed and felt the heat rising to her face as Emily unlaced her white corset while planting kisses on Victoria’s neck and upper back seductively. When finally the last lace was undone, Victoria’s corset fell from her body and onto the bed, which Emily threw off. Then, Emily pulled Victoria’s chemise over her head, exposing Victoria’s breasts, and tossed it to the floor. Victoria turned herself back around and laid herself on Emily’s bed. Emily clambered on top of Victoria, drunk with love, her heels slipping off as she straddled Victoria’s midsection. With her bony hand, Emily lightly flicked one of Victoria’s nipples. Victoria sighed breathily as Emily clutched her breasts in her cold, dead hands.

Emily grinned, “Are you a virgin, Victoria?”

“Hmm? Oh, yes, I suppose I am,” Victoria replied, seemingly coming back to reality, “Are you?”

“You could say I’m… experienced. It can get boring around here and sometimes you get that feeling like you need to…”

“Have sex?” Victoria finished Emily’s sentence, smirking.

“Precisely,” Emily agreed, kissing her wife roughly on the lips.

With a rapid succession of movement, Victoria reversed Emily’s and her positions, rolling over and on top of Emily. In doing so, Victoria accidently dislocated Emily’s skeleton arm from its socket and she let out a small gasp.

“Oh, Emily, I’m so sorry,” Victoria apologized.

“There’s my dashing, primal, Victoria! It’s no big deal, darling. This sort of thing happens often,” Emily took her arm from an apologetic Victoria and popped it back into its socket, “Ravish me, darling. I want to be screaming your name.”

Relieved that Emily was okay (well as okay as dead person could be), Victoria smiled and kissed Emily on her full, pink lips.

Then, Victoria stopped and gazed upon Emily for a brief moment, reveling in the joy of losing her virginity to this perfect woman. 

“Just do what comes naturally, Victoria,” Emily encouraged.

“Right, naturally,” Victoria smiled slightly embarrassed.

“Do what you do to yourself when no one is around, but do it to me,” Emily coached as she watched Victoria struggle with thinking of what to do and where to put her hands.

Victoria nodded her head in understanding as she lifted Emily’s skirts revealing the bride’s knickers along with a lacy wedding garter around her fleshy thigh. Emily’s knickers were the type every lady wore called open drawers; they were essentially, knickers with a hole in the crotch for ease of restroom use. Or in Victoria’s case, ease of fucking.

Victoria glanced back up to watch Emily’s face as she brushed her thumb against Emily’s labia then began massaging her clitoris. A sultry smile covered Emily’s face and she kept sharp eye contact with Victoria. Inexplicably, this action aroused Victoria, who felt the urge to swiftly disrobe to her knickers. Emily turned onto her tummy, still laying on the bed.

“Would you be a dear and unlace me?” Emily asked in her most seductive voice.

Smirking, Victoria undid the bow at the bottom of Emily’s corset and steadily pulled the laces out of their respective eyelets. When Emily was finally free of her corset, Victoria slid it out from under her then tossed it at the armoire. Victoria traced her fingers along the curve of Emily’s spine and left delicate kisses on her wife’s back erotically. Then pulling off Emily’s skirt and knickers in one motion, Victoria had her corpse bride undressed and sufficiently concupiscent.

“Victoria!” Emily moaned in surprise as she felt Victoria’s lips and tongue on her clit.

Committed to pleasuring Emily, Victoria began tonguing Emily’s clit and vagina, essentially lubing her wife up with her spit. Then, when satisfied with that, Victoria inserted two of her fingers into Emily, all the while leaving kisses along her back. Once, she reached Emily’s neck she kissed her even more and left love bites around her neck and upper back. Emily moaned and arched her back with the combined stimuli, so Victoria added another finger.

“Ahhh, Victoria,” Emily cried out in pleasure.

A libidinous Victoria breathed heavy, wanting to be pleasured herself. She increased the speed by which she fingered Emily, causing Emily to moan more often and louder. Victoria continued ceaselessly until at long last Emily climaxed in sweet satisfaction. Emily rolled onto her back with a breathy chuckle, Victoria collapsing into Emily’s arms in a tender embrace. 

“If I had any breath, I would say you’ve taken it away,” Emily divulged.

Victoria smiled, “Oh, it couldn’t have been that amazing.”

“You’re too modest darling,” Emily beamed, feeling a phantom rush of endorphins, “Now, I’m a generous lover, so it’s your turn. Come, sit on my face.”

Victoria giggled, “Sit on your face?”

“Yes,” Emily snickered, “It sound silly, but trust me, you’ll be doubled over in pleasure.”

“Well, if you’re sure.”

“I am!”

Blushing, yet grinning, Victoria dropped her open drawers and clambered onto Emily, resting just above Emily’s face.

“Oh you,” Emily laughed, then gripped Victoria’s supple hips and started eating her wife out.

Victoria moaned responsively and bucked her hips against Emily’s tongue. With every flick of Emily’s tongue, Victoria could feel her knees weaken and she put her hands on the bed for extra support. She felt as Emily slid a finger inside her easily tapped on her g-spot over and over again. Emily accompanied this motion with gentle biting on Victoria’s clit. The intensity of Emily’s affections induced heavy breathing and moaning to escape from Victoria’s parted lips.

“Ahh! Yes! Oh, Emily, I think I- ahh!” Victoria screamed with pleasure as she ejaculated in Emily’s face.

Emily stopped what she was doing and smiled. Then she licked Victoria one last time tasting the clear fluid Victoria had expelled as it dripped down her cheeks and chin. It tasted somewhat sweet to Emily and had a watery consistency.

Victoria dropped to the bed next to Emily with a satisfied sigh. Emily cuddled Victoria, throwing her arms and skeleton leg over shorter woman. Emily gave Victoria a peck on her cheek and snuggled her head into the crook of Victoria’s neck.

“Is that your first time gushing?” Emily questioned, smirking.

“No,” Victoria replied, trying to regulate her breathing, “I’ve done it to myself before.”

“How risque!” Emily remarked, “Darling, I love how you’re not afraid to talk about sex.”

Victoria laughed breathily, “Why shouldn’t I be. Everyone does it, right?”

“Well, nearly everyone!”

“Right,” Victoria agreed as she yawned.

“Oh was it that bad?” Emily joked.

“Hmm? Oh of course not. I didn’t get any sleep last night because I was fretting about my arranged marriage above ground.”

“Arranged marriage? You didn’t tell me about that.”

“Oh right, my mother and father wanted me to marry this silly little man, but seeing as how I’m here and married to you, it won’t have to happen!”

“You don’t like men?”

“Not sexually if that’s what you mean. No, I’m more interested in women.”

“Ah! Personally, I don’t care what my lover’s sex is, as long as they’re beautiful, charming, and intelligent,” Emily winked at Victoria.

“Do I fulfill your criteria then,” Victoria inquired slyly.

“And thensome,” Emily expressed, then she passionately locked lips with Victoria.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so there you go, friends. enjoy wanking to that masterpiece


	6. Eternal Afternoon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emily and Victoria get to know each other a little better!

“Oh, I just know you’ll love this tea place, darling! It’s called Eternal Afternoon,” Emily giggled as she walked by Victoria’s side down the winding cobblestone roads, “Do you get it? Afternoon tea? But in the land of the dead!”

Victoria smiled at Emily’s enthusiasm over the title of the tea place she was being taken to. Her wife’s enthusiasm was so endearing. Victoria absolutely relished the moments when Emily got excited about something. It was the childlike naivety that Emily exuded whenever she became enlivened by a certain trivial topic that caused Victoria to smile with second hand ecstaticism.

“I do enjoy the names of the shops around here,” Victoria stated with a grin.

“They’re quite silly, aren’t they,” Emily smiled sweetly at Victoria, their eyes meeting for just a moment in enchanting harmony.

Victoria blushed and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. She had no concept of time in this dark world, but it seemed like such a short time ago when she woke up in the strange place she walked with her wife. In that short time, she had fallen fast in love with a woman she hardly knew. Emily made it so easy for Victoria to fall in love, though! Not only was her bride ravishing and graceful, but she also had a wonderful personality and was highly intelligent. Best of all, Victoria felt the chemistry between them and the compatibility they shared.

“Here we are!” Emily chimed in a sing-songy voice as they rounded the street corner.

They came up to a quaint little tea shop that mirrored those of Paris, France. Sure enough the painted shop sign read “Eternal Afternoon” in black cursive script. Outside the tea shop, little metal chairs and tables lounged in the strange darkness of the world. The large glass windows were frosted, so the couple were unable to see inside the shop from outside.

Emily held the door open for her sweet little wife, “After you, milady,” she said in a suave, yet joking manner.

Victoria giggled at Emily as she stepped inside the corner tea shop. Inside was an interesting yet pleasant aroma of various spices as well as baked goods. A good six feet in front of Victoria was a counter with a bronze tinted cash register along with multiple displays of miscellaneous baked goods such as scones, a variety of breads, and sponge cakes. 

“Ahh, Emily, how are you?” A skeleton man greeted in a thick French accent, then turned to Victoria, “And you must be Emily’s bride! I am Boneoit!”

“Pleased to make your acquaintance,” Victoria smiled and shook the French shopkeeper’s hand.

Emily grinned at seeing Victoria interact with dead people like she would in the world of the living, “Can we get two cups of tea and two scones, Bones?”

“Sure thing, Emily!” The skeleton man ducked under to retrieve ingredients and ceramics.

Emily turned from the counter and walked to a table that was inside the shop. She sat down and crossed her skeleton leg over her fleshy one.

“Are you going to sit down, darling?” Emily asked Victoria who was standing at the counter still.

“You don’t have to pay?”

“Non, it is the land of the dead! What’s the point of paying for things?” Boneoit replied animatedly as he popped up from behind the counter.

“Oh, right,” Victoria giggled, “Yes, I suppose that makes sense. I wish that were the case back home,” she sat down at the table across from Emily.

“Home… I guess I should tell you that you won’t be able to get back to the land of the living,” Emily told her wife sympathetically. Victoria stared at Emily as though her world came crashing down. “Are you okay darling?” Emily extended a hand out to caress Victoria’s hands that were rested on the table. “Well, I mean, people going back is unheard of, and besides, I don’t belong up there anyway. Look at me, I’m dead.”

“I-I’m not sure if I could get used to the perpetual darkness…”Victoria trailed off.

“I know it seems terrible, but I promise you’ll get used to it! Now, let’s get to know each other.”

Victoria’s face brightened, “Didn’t we do that last night?” she smirked slyly.

Emily giggled, “Well, you’re cheeky aren’t you, my love?”

The two women sat in silence gazing deeply into each other’s eyes. What happened between them several hours ago, ingrained in their memories. 

“You two are cute,” a funny looking maggot popped Emily’s right eye out and peeked out from within Emily’s cranium.

“Oh, no, I’m sorry” Emily fretted as her eyeball went rolling on the ground.

Victoria stood up and went after her wife’s eyeball as Emily plucked the maggot from her eye socket. Emily’s eye stopped rolling after hitting the wall on the other side of the tea shop. Victoria bent to pick it up. She cleaned the eye a bit by wiping it on her maroon striped bodice.

“Here you are. And don’t worry, it’s endearing,” Victoria handed Emily her eyeball with a laugh.

“Maggots,” Emily chortled jokingly.

Victoria chuckled “Yes, indeed.”

Emily’s laughter died down as she thought of a simple question to get to know her new bride, “What’s your favorite color, Victoria?”

“Favorite color? Oh, I’ve always favored violet.”

“What a lovely color, violet! I prefer blue myself.”

“Do you read poetry?”

“Oh, of course!” Emily responded enthusiastically.

“Who’s your favorite poet, then?”

“Ahh, a difficult question! Emily Bronte’s poetry is so moving, but I also enjoy Tennyson and Emily Browning.”

“‘With wide-embracing love / Thy Spirit animates eternal years, / Pervades and broods above, / Changes, sustains, dissolves, creates, and rears.’” Victoria recited.

“‘No Coward Soul is Mine,’” Emily looked on in awe, dumbstruck that Victoria recited one of her favorite poems, “Oh, Bronte was marvelous, don’t you think?”

“Spectacular,” Victoria concurred with a grin, “I love the poetry of those three along with Wordsworth, have you read any of his work?”

“Yes! It’s so hauntingly beautiful: ‘She dwelt among the untrodden ways / Beside the springs of Dove, / A Maid whom there were none to praise / And very few to love.’”

“You recite poetry with such emotion, Emily. It’s enchanting to watch!”

Emily smiled, “There’s just something about poetry… I feel so connected to poets! I’m not sure what it is.”

“Your tea and scones, ladies,” Boneoit interrupted their conversation to place their tea cups and freshly baked scones on the table before them.

“A million times, thank you, Boneoit!” Emily expressed her gratitude the skeletal shopkeeper.

“Anything for you and your blushing bride, Emily,” Boneoit insisted.

“Oh, you’re too kind,” Victoria thanked Boneoit just before he turned to take his place back behind the counter.

Emily focused her attention back on their conversation as she took a sip of her tea, “I simply must know what you think on this topic: do you think people are born inherently evil or good?”

“Interesting inquiry,” Victoria commented between sips of her tea, “I don’t claim to have the correct answer, but I don’t think humans are born evil or good. I think we’re all born blank canvases, just completely neutral. We become good or evil based on the environment we are raised in and live in,” Victoria answered in an intellectual frame of mind.

“Yes! That’s what I think! If we’re being honest, I purposefully didn’t give you a third option just to see what you’d say. I couldn’t have said it better myself, darling!”

“Is it me or does it seem we are birds of a feather, Emily?” Victoria noted with a smile.

Emily mirrored Victoria’s smile unwittingly, “It does seem that way doesn’t, my love?”

The two joined hands across the table. Victoria blushed as Emily clutched her hand delicately. Emily peered down at their joined hands.

“Oh, silly me. I never gave you a ring!” Emily realized, then tapped Victoria’s ring finger lightly with her thumb, “We’ll do something about that. In the meantime, would you like to meet some of my friends? Well, you already met Bonejangles and his gang, but there’s so many more people that I want you to meet!”

“I’m up for it,” Victoria declared, gazing at her passionate wife lovingly.

“Spectacular!” Emily exclaimed, taking one last bite of her scone as she stood up from her seat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ah, these two are going to be the death of me, goddammit


	7. Meanwhile

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Victoria and Emily are traipsing around the land of the dead, back in the land in the living the Everglots and Van Dorts realize that nothing is going according plan.

“It’s already nightfall and no one has found her! What are we to do Finis?” Mrs. Everglot exclaimed haughtily.

“This is quite unusual,” Mr. Van Dort commented.

“Yes quite strange and unusual indeed. This is unlike Victoria to run off,” Mr. Everglot noted.

“Typically she is reserved and obedient. I can’t imagine what has gotten into her,” Mrs. Everglot assured.

The Everglots and Van Dorts sat in the tea room located in the Everglot’s decrepit mansion. The Everglots sat on one couch frantically sipping their tea while the Van Dorts were on the couch across from them, their son, Victor standing behind the couch nervously sipping from tea in an old china cup. The marriage the two families arranged was supposed to save the Everglots from the poor house and in turn elevate the Van Dorts to lordship. Victoria’s disappearance had thrown a wrench deep in their plans.

A knock came from outside the large double doors of the tea room, “Come in!” Mr. Everglot replied.

The door opened and a posh Lord Barkis entered the tea room with the town crier in tow. He strutted purposefully into the room, waving the town crier in behind him. He stood next to the couch the Everglots sat at and turned to the town crier.

“Would you recite this evening’s headliner?” Lord Barkis requested the town crier with a smirk.

“HEAR YE, HEAR YE! VICTORIA EVERGLOT SEEN THIS NIGHT ON THE BRIDGE IN THE ARMS OF A MYSTERY WOMAN! THE DARK HAIRED TEMPTRESS AND THE SODOMIZER MISS EVERGLOT SLIPPED AWAY INTO THE NIGHT! And now the weather. Scattered showers-”

“That’s quite enough,” Lord Barkis waved the town crier out then looked between the Everglots and Van Dorts to gauge their reactions.

Mrs. Everglot gasped holding a hand to her chest in shock, “Our daughter? A sodomizer? Such debauchery cannot be tolerated!”

“Fetch me musket!” Mr. Everglot ordered Emile through his anger.

“Disown the wench, I’d say!” Mrs. Van Dort chimed in, fanning herself anxiously.

Victor stood dejectedly and even more awkward than he was behind the sofa his parents sat at.

“What are your thoughts, son?” Mr. Van Dort asked Victor as he grabbed the musket from Emile and put it back on the mantle over the fireplace.

“I-I-I’m n-not sure what to think,” Victor said hesitantly while twisting his tie apprehensively, “What if the town crier’s a-accusations are false?”

“How preposterous!” Mrs. Everglot declared.

“Are you accusing that nice gentleman who provides us with important news a liar?” Lord Barkis assumed dramatically with a smug look on his face.

“Hmm, yes. Then what are we to do!” Mr. Everglot yelled over the bickering of the many people in the tea room. Everyone turned to him, consequently, “There is a matter of finances!”

“The show must go on,” Lord Barkis uttered in quiet sing-song as he exited the room, all eyes on him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the next chapter is gonna be a doozy, i can tell you that


	8. Null and Void

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back in the land of the dead, Emily has Victoria meet her friends, when someone visits unannounced bearing bad news for the newlyweds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prepare yourselves.

“Mrs. Plum!” Emily called out, “Mrs. Plum, I’ve brought my wife with me! I’d like you to meet her!”

Emily and Victoria stood in Mrs. Plum’s kitchen, devoid of Mrs. Plum herself. Emily had taken Victoria to meet a few other friends she had met during her time in the land of the dead. She wanted Victoria to meet Mrs. Plum specifically because the dead woman was a good cook and even better friend to Emily. When Emily had first arrived upon coming face to face with her unfortunate end, Mrs. Plum was there to welcome Emily and to help her make a home in the peculiar land of darkness. She just knew Mrs. Plum would want to meet her newly wedded wife.

Emily sighed, “Oh she’s probably gone out for supplies. She’s an extraordinary cook, you know!”

“Yes, I think you mentioned that,” Victoria giggled as it was the fifth time Emily had relayed that information about her friend, Mrs. Plum.

“Bloody hell, could someone in there lend me a hand?” A voice came from outside the kitchen door.

Emily smiled, “There she is!” she told Victoria, “Coming!”

Victoria held the door open as Emily raced to it. Outside was a short and plump aged woman with a bony brachialis on both limbs wearing a chef’s hat on top of her thin black hair and an apron over her plain brown dress. She juggled four brown paper bags filled to the brim with foodstuffs.

“Emily! Oh bless you, sweetie!” Mrs. Plum thanked as Emily lifted two bags from Mrs. Plum’s arms.

Victoria kept the door wide open so that Emily and Mrs. Plum could walk through it easily. Emily went ahead and placed the bags she held on the table in the center of the room. While waddling inside, Mrs. Plum caught sight of Victoria and stood still, gazing at her with astonishment.

“My stars! I heard you tied the knot, Emily, but I had no idea it was to such a gorgeous young lady!” Mrs. Plum enthused over Victoria, who blushed at the compliments, “And humble too! If she’s as intelligent as she is pretty, I’d say you took the cake, Emily!”

Emily smirked as she walked back over to Mrs. Plum and took the other two bags the old woman held, “She recited Emily Bronte to me,” she recalled, placing the paper bags on the table next to the other two.

“My goodness, she’s as pretty as a peach,” Mrs. Plum reached up and patted Victoria’s rosy cheek, “Why, you’re still alive dear,” she said, shocked, but she shook it off, “Do you have a name?”

“Oh, Victoria. Victoria Everglot, ma’am.”

“Ah, a lovely name! Now, I’m fixin’ to bake some crumpets; would you ladies be interested in helping an old woman?” Mrs. Plum asked rhetorically, already knowing the couple’s answer.

“Of course, Mrs. Plum,” Emily responded, flashing a funny smile at Victoria.

Victoria snickered quietly as she let the door close, after Mrs. Plum walked further in the room. Mrs. Plum stopped on the other side of the table and began to unload the bags of foodstuffs onto the table.

“Emily, be a doll and fetch me a mixing bowl and wooden spoon. Victoria, could you help me take all this food out of the bags?”

“Yes, of course,” Victoria strolled to the table, opposite Mrs. Plum, and helped her with the task at hand. Meanwhile, Emily rummaged around the unorganized kitchen cabinets for a large mixing bowl and wooden spoon as Mrs. Plum asked. Finding what she needed, Emily took the bowl and spoon to the table where Mrs. Plum continued taking food out of the brown paper bags and placing everything on the table.

“You really must organize those cabinets, Mrs. Plum,” Emily laughed as she placed the items she held on the table.

“Nah, no need t’ organize when you’re dead,” Mrs. Plum jested.

Suddenly a bony knuckled knock came at the side door and Mrs. Plum answered the knock, “Yeah, come in!”

A hunched skeletal figure opened the wooden door, it creaked as it was slowly pushed open. The ancient skeleton man hobbled inside the kitchen with the aid of his gnarled wooden cane. His long wispy beard, barely attached to his mandible, dragged on the floor.

“Elder Gutknecht?” Emily asked dumbfounded. She had never seen the old scholar descend from his tower library in the few years she had been living in the land of the dead. Those who have been around for a long time even told her or numerous occasions that he rarely ever comes down. If he ever did, it was a serious reason.

“Ah, Emily, just the one I wanted to see,” Elder Gutknecht mused feebly.

“Me?” Emily asked in a confused and frightened tone.

“Oh, you must be bride number two,” Elder Gutknecht referred to Victoria as he adjusted his spectacles.

Victoria nodded, bewildered as to why Emily was so frightened to see this old skeletal man. She saw Mrs. Plum shared a look akin to Emily’s.

“You must be confused as to why I’m here,” the man hobbled to the center of the room and laid a large tome on the table around the food, “As you must know, I’m only down here when serious matters call for discussion and the matter I’m here to discuss with you two is grave indeed.”

Victoria and Emily shared a look between each other, alarmed and disoriented. They hadn’t been married 24 hours and they were already receiving bad news.

Elder Gutknecht flipped to a bookmarked page and pointed a bony finger to it, “Your vows. In your vows, you both had mentioned ‘till death do you part.’ Well here’s the dire problem: death has already parted you.”

“What?” was all wide-eyed Victoria could say, while Emily stared into the distance unmoving. Emily looked as though her whole world had come crashing down on her. 

“Now, I can understand that this must come with great shock, but I assure you, there are solutions, though only two.”

This seemed to wake Emily up from her trance, “Yes, what are these solutions?”

“Your first option is for your bride to drink from the wine of ages.”

Emily gasped, “Poison?”

“Yes, she must die in order to live with you here.”

Victoria came to a full realization of her situation, grim as it was, “And the second option?”

“The second option, my dear, is to go to the land of the living and choose two human sacrifices to drink from the wine of ages in order to replace Emily’s spot in the land of the dead. Two lives for one. I know it sounds unreasonable, but we’re talking about bringing Emily back to life. It’s only ever been done one other time.”

“Oh, Victoria. I could never ask you to do these terrible things to be with me,” Emily sunk to her knees in misery.

Victoria knelt down next to Emily, placing her hand delicately on Emily’s shoulder, “You don’t have to.” 

Emily glanced up at Victoria with tears in her eyes, “Oh, Victoria,” Emily threw her arms around Victoria in a loving embrace and began sobbing softly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY EVERYONE READ THIS: I'm leaving these options up to you guys! Comment what you want Victoria and Emily to do and I will write whatever happens to be the majority opinion!!


	9. Our Brides Are Getting Married Today

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a brief few months of hiatus, here is the long awaited next chapter! Enjoy!!! <3

The usual quietness about the land of the dead was gone and replaced by an enlivened commotion and bustle. The dead were getting a new, gorgeous addition to their ranks and had the privilege of putting together a romantic shotgun wedding. Apart from their deceased friends, Emily and Victoria were thrilled to be seriously tying the knot. Despite the gesture of devotion Victoria showed to her fiancee, secretly Emily mourned the fact that Victoria would have to give up her life to to marry her. She wished with all her heart that it wouldn’t come to this, but she knew their current matrimony was unnatural and somewhat illegal. And even though Victoria faced death, she knew what lied ahead and was unafraid to face it with the woman she loved.

Preparations were frantically being made by those helping the two young lovers get married and soon, within about a few days (in the time of the living world) all was ready. The arrangements were made; cakes were baked, the brides’ dresses were sewn by black widows, and the Wine of Ages was prepared. The last thing to do was to continue with the wedding ceremony ‘upstairs.’ It was incredibly rare for dead people to see the land of the living once again after their fatalities, but for a whole community and a wedding between a deceased woman and a live one was unheard of. No one knew how the people still breathing would take the sudden appearance of dead people, then again, everyone was caught up in the beauty of the matrimony between the two women.

The commotion continued out onto the cobblestone streets of the dark world, everything needed for the wedding was entrusted to ecstatic dead folk and carried through the portal created by Elder Gutknecht. The brides held hands near the back of the procession, following the people who yearned to make their wedding special. Elder Gutknecht followed into the portal behind the brides as they stepped out of a fireplace in a hall surprisingly familiar to Victoria. The ceiling was about as tall as the building itself, approximately 40-50 feet (12-15 meters). The hall was long and dark, dimly lit by candles and a chandelier. The long entertaining dining table was deserted as if the people who were eating there quickly left in a panic - and in fact they did. As soon as dead people began parading through the fireplace, the people were frightened away.

“Where are we?” Emily asked.

“The land of the living, of course,” Elder Gutknecht responded.

“No, even worse. We’re in my parents estate,” Victoria remarked, looking about her parents mansion.

“Ooooh, your parents!”

“Trust me, Emily, you don’t want to meet them. Besides, I don’t want them at our wedding.”

“Well, alright. I suppose it’s only fair that we don’t get to meet our in-laws. I’m sure they’re just as dreadful as you say,” Emily smiled at her bride-to-be who smiled gratefully back.

They continued through the manor with Elder Gutknecht in tow, exiting onto a once frenzied street. To their surprise, dead people walked alongside their living loved ones to the small church on the outskirts of town. The living and dead alike spoke merrily as they strolled with the wedding procession.

At the church conflict was brewing at the doorstep, as the old bedraggled pastor in his smallclothes and nightcap tried banishing the live and deceased wedding-goers from the premises. Unsuccessful, the pastor sat distraught on the side of the entrance stair as people entered the church and filled up the pews. He watched dejectedly as the dead and living loved ones entered his ‘holy space’ and mumbled something about the defilement of the sacredness of the church. Then upon catching sight of the dual brides, he stood up, anger arising in him.

“Two brides! Not in the sanctity of my church! It is most unho-”

“Oh, quiet, you mongrel,” Emily silenced the bigoted pastor as he had no idea what words to riposte with.

Victoria squeezed Emily’s hand tighter and beamed at her undead fiancee as they sauntered into the narthex of the church. Elder Gutknecht had them wait in the narthex as everyone seated, then he hobbled down the aisle to the altar to say a few words before the ceremony officially started. Finally, he motioned for the two women to walk down to the altar. Emotions high and adrenaline pumping through their veins (metaphorically for Emily), Victoria and Emily walked arm in arm down the center aisle as upbeat organ music rang through the apsidal basilica church. Both of them were grinning wildly, unable and unwilling to suppress the happiness they both felt. They looked around at their guests’ faces, some looking on affectionately at the young couple, others crying tears of joy. Victoria even spotted a few people she knew including aging her maidservant, Brunhilde, who supported her through the good and bad times of her adolescence. She also noticed Victor Van Dort respectfully observing from the left side aisle behind a wooden pillar. Victoria smiled at him and he responded with a nod of understanding as well as a small smile.

They approached the altar seemingly in an instant as everything was a blur to the brides at this point. Elder Gutknecht stood hunched over the wooden altar, the wine and Emily’s wedding band sitting on a white altar cloth.

“And now, the vows!” the ancient skeleton man’s voice boomed through the sanctuary, announcing the ceremony.

But before the brides could begin reciting their vows, the door to the sanctuary swung violently open and in the doorway stood Lord Barkis, looking in on the ceremony in utter contempt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what a twist of events, amirite? i mean lol it happens in the movie, but ya know. get ready for a wild ride in the next chapter!


	10. For Better of Worse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here she is, the last chapter! After a strange twist of events, shit goes down. Read on to find out what befalls of our lovely, gay, heroines!

“I thought I’d find you here, Victoria. I just followed the scent of betrayal and sodomy,” Barkis strided slowly, yet dutifully down the center aisle, “Your dear parents were worried sick about you and it turns out you’re marrying some dead woman without their knowledge! Well, I’m here to say that this wedding is off, but ours is still on.”

“You…” Emily muttered under her breath.

“I will never marry you, Lord Barkis, nor any man for that matter,” Victoria yelled from the altar, “I will not be someone’s possession!”

“Oh, ho ho. On the contrary! Your parents have consented to our marriage and I will finally be rich again!” a seething Lord Barkis shouted back.

“You do not own me! Besides, my family has no money! That’s why I was betrothed to Victor in the first place,” Victoria explained

Lord Barkis looked confused and hurt, the wind in his sails dying down, “What?”

“You!” Emily cried out.

Lord Barkis shifted his attention to Emily, then his face was contorted with a painful realization, “Emily? But… I left you…”

Emily’s eyes widened, “... For dead.”

At that, the wedding spectators gasped in a shocking revelation. A clattering was heard as a skeletal man’s mandible fell to the floor in shock. Everyone in the room had instantly turned on Lord Barkis and was ready to absolutely destroy the man who was ruining Emily and Victoria’s wedding.

“This woman is obviously delusional!” Lord Barkis vociferated frantically.

As he realized everyone began ganging up on him, he seized Victoria and started backing up slowly. Victoria struggled in the man’s grasp until he pulled a sword out of the ribs of a stout skeletal man standing menacingly on a pew and held the blade against her neck threateningly.

“Sorry to cut things short, but we must be on our way,” he exclaimed as he held Victoria tighter.

Emily stepped forward, enraged that the man who killed her was threatening to kill her wife, “Take your filthy hands off of her,” she commanded. 

“Shall we see if a dead woman can die again?” Lord Barkis said bitterly as he pointed the sword at Emily.

“Get out,” Emily ordered.

With that, Lord Barkis threw Victoria to the side and lunged at Emily, effectively lodging the blade in her ribs. Emily withdrew the sword from her body without pain and held it at Lord Barkis’ chest with narrowed eyes.

“Touche, my dear,” quipped Lord Barkis, finding himself in a life or death checkmate.

“I said, get out,” she repeated, “I will strike you down where you stand.”

Lord Barkis chuckled maniacally, “Okay, you win. I must admit, I wasn’t expecting this. But before I take my leave, one final word,” Emily glared at Lord Barkis as he persisted, “Tell me, my dear, can a heart still break once it’s stopped beating?” Lord Barkis took a knife out of a dead woman’s back and with a swift motion, stabbed Victoria in her shoulder, dropped the knife, and fled the church.

Emily reacted immediately, dropping the sword and lunging forward to Victoria’s aid, applying pressure on her stab wound that bled profusely as she screamed in pain. Tears flowed down Emily’s face at seeing the woman she loved in distress. Lord Barkis might have been trying to salvage what little pride he had left by wounding Victoria, but he missed her heart then ran like a coward. Emily was determined to win the day for her and her bride.

“Are you well enough the stand, my sweet Victoria?” Emily murmured.

Victoria nodded her head in reply, tears streaming down her cheeks. To their surprise, Victor came over to help the two stand back up at the altar. He helped Emily get Victoria onto her feet and together they carried Victoria to the altar. Emily gripped Victoria around her waist to keep her from collapsing as they stood in front of Elder Gutknecht yet again, Victor leaving their side.

“Victoria, if you will?” Elder Gutknecht prompted the injured woman to recite her vows.

“With this hand, I will lift your sorrows,” she said, lifting the hand of her uninjured limb, “Your cup will never empty, for I shall be your wine.” Victoria groaned, doubling over in agony.

“It’s okay, darling. You’re going to be okay,” Emily reassured Victoria as well as herself.

Victoria raised her head with great effort, “With this candle, I will light your way in the darkness. With this ring,” she clutched Emily’s skeletal hand that her wedding band resided on, “I ask you to be mine.”

Emily smiled through her tears and looked back to Elder Gutknecht who poured the wine of ages into a chalice sitting on the altar gravely. He motioned for her to recite her vows, handing her the chalice.

“With this hand, I lift your sorrows. Your cup will never empty, for I shall be your wine,” at long last, Emily hesitantly allowed Victoria to drink from the poisoned chalice. Victoria took the cup in her hand and drank deeply, Emily continued her vows as she did, “With this candle, I will light your way through darkness.” Victoria set the chalice down on the altar as soon as she finished and Emily picked up the wedding band meant for Victoria. “With this ring,” Victoria started coughing, the aching in her shoulder forgotten, “I ask you to be mine.” Emily slipped the ring onto Victoria’s finger gently, completing their vows.

Victoria began gasping for breath, her hands grasping at her tight clothing. Emily held onto her wife tightly, and glanced over at Elder Gutknecht wide-eyed and afraid. He nodded solemnly at the newlywed, Victoria was dying. Emily laid Victoria on her back in front of the altar and watched as she died.

“What have I done…” she whispered to herself under her breath, sobbing as she held her dying wife in her arms.

She witnessed as Victoria took her last breath and then lay motionless in her arms, her light brown eyes now lifeless. Quiet gasps escaped from the wedding guests’ lips as they beheld this out of the ordinary wedding. They waited with baited breath for Victoria to wake up again, after ingesting the poison. For a few painful moments, Victoria’s body lied unmoving as her skin became a bluish-pale tone and her open eyes transfixed to the ceiling, ever staring.

Suddenly, Victoria blinked twice and wiggled her fingers. She took a deep breath, no longer feeling the pain she previously felt from her stab wound. Emily began weeping out of joy that the ceremony worked and her beloved wife could be with her for an eternity. Beaming, Emily kissed Victoria’s cold lips.

“And you may now kiss the bride,” chuckled Elder Gutknecht as a thunderous applause resonated through the sanctuary. The wedding guests stood clapping, overjoyed that the brides were all well (as well as dead people can be, anyway) and happy.

Through all the pandemonium, time stood still for the newlyweds. They sat on the floor in front of the altar in a long embrace, holding in each other tightly, unwilling to let go.

“I love you, Emily.”

“Victoria, I love you so much,” Emily whispered as she kissed Victoria on her forehead.

With renewed vigor and smiles shining brilliantly on their faces, the brides stood up. Their delicate hands laced together as they raced down the aisle through the narthex and main doors that were held open by their predeceased guests. The pair continued, rushing towards the adjacent forest and as they did, blue butterflies began swirling around them. By the time they had reached the bridge all that was left of the couple were the butterflies, flitting away in the night towards the immense and glowing full moon, ascending beyond the mortal realm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and that's a wrap! i've gotten a lot of positive feedback from this fic and i'm so glad you all like it! i may or may not write a shorter modern AU for this ship, so if you want to read something like that, let me know and i'll get started on it right away!

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you all enjoyed this first chapter! there are more chapters to come so stay tuned!


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